Kukla's Korner Hockey

His Capitals have lost tens of millions of dollars, he acknowledges, but the team is worth more than twice the $85 million he paid for it in 1999. The value will only increase if the team, which Leonsis has slowly rebuilt after initially overspending for players, returns to the playoffs this season for the first time since 2003.

“I have to laugh,” Leonsis said, “because we get slammed by newspapers or frankly even some new media properties, and I go, ‘Our salary cap has grown from $39 million to $50 million in two years.’ Whose shoes would you rather be in?”